Transportation Ministry deputy Rainer Bomba recently took Siemens executive board member Siegfried Russwurm to task, suggesting that the company could show a little more enthusiasm for the Tenerife project.

Privately, Bomba vented his displeasure over manufacturers dragging their feet, saying sarcastically, “The customer is threateningto make an order.”That could, in fact, happen soon. Melchior says that he already has funding commitments for a portion of the estimated €3 billion maglev route. He intends to tap into Europe’s subsidy coffers and the wallets of private investors for the rest.

Very cool story. Perhaps some major hyperbole, but you should read it and scroll down to the comments. One of them is exactly on comment. Highways are not free and do not “make money”- whatever that means.

TALLAHASSEE —
Gov. Rick Scott’s legal counsel Thursday told the Florida Supreme Court that
he made an inaccurate representation on the amount of money already spent on
the state’s high-speed rail project — a key detail that may have helped
cinch the governor’s victory in a constitutional tug-of-war.

In a two-page letter to Chief Justice Charles Canady, Scott’s general counsel,
Charles Trippe, acknowledged he misrepresented a central fact in arguments
last month supporting the governor’s rejection of $2.4 billion in federal
funds for the project linking Tampa with Orlando.

Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, one of two senators who sued Scott saying he had
exceeded his constitutional authority in killing the project, said Thursday
evening that Trippe’s letter is a “huge admission.”

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s legal counsel Thursday told the Florida Supreme Court that he made an inaccurate representation on the amount of money already spent on the state’s high-speed rail project — a key detail that may have helped cinch the governor’s victory in a constitutional tug-of-war.

In a two-page letter to Chief Justice Charles Canady, Scott’s general counsel, Charles Trippe, acknowledged he misrepresented a central fact in arguments last month supporting the governor’s rejection of $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project linking Tampa with Orlando.

Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, one of two senators who sued Scott saying he had exceeded his constitutional authority in killing the project, said Thursday evening that Trippe’s letter is a “huge admission.”